Blog of Fr. Peter Leung

恭讀聖路加福音1:5-25

黑落德為猶太王的時候，阿彼雅班次中有一位司祭名叫匝加利亞，他的妻子名叫依撒伯爾，是亞郎的後代。二人在天主前都是義人，遵守上主的一切誡命和禮規，無瑕可指。但是，他們沒有孩子，因為依撒伯爾素不生育，兩人又都上了年紀。

有一天，正逢匝加利亞輪著他的班次，在天主前盡司祭的職務時，按著司祭的常例，他抽中了簽，得進上主的聖所獻香。獻香的時候，所有的百姓都在外面祈禱。有一位上主的天使站在香壇右邊顯現給他。匝加利亞一見，驚惶害怕起來；但天使對她說：「匝加利亞，不要害怕！因為你的祈禱已蒙應允，你的妻子依撒伯爾要給你生一個兒子，你要給他起名叫若翰。你必要歡喜踴躍，許多人也要因他的誕生而喜樂，因為他在上主面前將是偉大的，淡酒和濃酒他都不喝，而且，他還在母胎中就要充滿聖神；他要使許多以色列子民轉向上主，他們的天主；他要以厄里亞的精神和能力，在他前面先行，使為父的的心轉向兒子，使悖逆者轉向義人的心意，為上主準備一個善良的百姓。」匝加利亞遂向天使說：「我憑什麼能知這事可行呢？因為我已經老了，我的妻子也上了年紀。」天使回答說：「我是站在天主面前的加俾額爾，奉命來向你說話，報告你這個喜訊。看，你必成為啞巴，不能說話，直到這事成就的那一天，因為你沒有相信我的話；但我的話屆時必要應驗。」百姓等候匝加利亞，都驚訝他滯留在聖所內那末久。及至他出來，竟不能對他們講話。他們這才知道，他在聖所中見了異象；他成了啞巴，只好給他們打手勢。

匝加利亞供職的日期一滿，就回了家。幾天以後，他的妻子依撒伯爾受了孕，她躲藏了五個月，說：「上主在這些時日內這樣眷顧了我，除去了我在人間的恥辱。」

—上主的話。

A Reading from the Gospel of Luke 1:5-25

In the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the priestly division of Abijah; his wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years.

Once when he was serving as priest in his division’s turn before God, according to the practice of the priestly service, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense. Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.” Then Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel said to him in reply, “I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.” Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He was gesturing to them but remained mute. Then, when his days of ministry were completed, he went home.

After this time his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she went into seclusion for five months, saying, “So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others.”

—The Gospel of the Lord.

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 Homily – 3rd week of Advent – Wed.: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6858)

信仰生活互動坊、塔冷通心靈書舍

12月19日 (週三)　　 路1：5-25 (其他經文──民13：2-7, 24-25 　詠71)

黑落德為猶太王的時候，阿彼雅班次中有一位司祭名叫匝加利亞，他的妻子名叫依撒伯爾，是亞郎的後代。二人在天主前都是義人，遵守上主的一切誡命和禮規，無瑕可指。但是，他們沒有孩子，因為依撒伯爾素不生育，兩人又都上了年紀。
有一天，正逢匝加利亞輪著他的班次，在天主前盡司祭的職務時，按著司祭的常例，他抽中了簽，得進上主的聖所獻香。獻香的時候，所有的百姓都在外面祈禱。有一位上主的天使站在香壇右邊顯現給他。匝加利亞一見，驚惶害怕起來；但天使對她說：「匝加利亞，不要害怕！因為你的祈禱已蒙應允，你的妻子依撒伯爾要給你生一個兒子，你要給他起名叫若翰。你必要歡喜踴躍，許多人也要因他的誕生而喜樂，因為他在上主面前將是偉大的，淡酒和濃酒他都不喝，而且，他還在母胎中就要充滿聖神；他要使許多以色列子民轉向上主，他們的天主；他要以厄里亞的精神和能力，在他前面先行，使為父的的心轉向兒子，使悖逆者轉向義人的心意，為上主準備一個善良的百姓。」匝加利亞遂向天使說：「我憑什麼能知這事可行呢？因為我已經老了，我的妻子也上了年紀。」天使回答說：「我是站在天主面前的加俾額爾，奉命來向你說話，報告你這個喜訊。看，你必成為啞巴，不能說話，直到這事成就的那一天，因為你沒有相信我的話；但我的話屆時必要應驗。」百姓等候匝加利亞，都驚訝他滯留在聖所內那末久。及至他出來，竟不能對他們講話。他們這才知道，他在聖所中見了異象；他成了啞巴，只好給他們打手勢。
匝加利亞供職的日期一滿，就回了家。幾天以後，他的妻子依撒伯爾受了孕，她躲藏了五個月，說：「上主在這些時日內這樣眷顧了我，除去了我在人間的恥辱。」

默　想──Ø　洗者若翰出生的前前後後，同樣來得不可思議。你看，連當事人一時也不敢相信，年紀大了竟可產子。
Ø　洗者若翰差不多唯一的使命，是為耶穌預備道路，他這份預備，打從在母腹中已開始。他尚在母腹中已充滿聖神，「整裝待發」，與母親及她的表妹（聖母瑪利亞）等待聖子的降世。
Ø　預備與等待，可謂將臨期時候我們需要做的。如何預備，以怎樣的心情來等待，就是我們與天主合作的良機。我們也是否相信，救主的親臨，來到我們心中，真的把我們更新，變得更懂得愛與體諒。

今天晚上 (18/12)，我在香港的培聖會的月會中分享默主哥耶。

Tonight (18/12), I gave a talk on Medjugorje during the monthly meeting of Serra Club in Hong Kong.

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 Talk on Medjugorje in Serra Club [34:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4737)

Our Lady did not only give us Messages about Prayer and the Holy Eucharist; She also spoke about other fundamental values of Christian life.

Those values which have been important to the Apostles, are also important to us and they will always be important to all people, until the last Christian on Earth.

Our Lady appeared many times on Mount Krizevac, where a big cross was erected in 1933 in honour of the mystery of Redemption.

From the very beginning Our Lady appeared many times beside the Cross, with the Cross, at the foot of the Cross.

There are many pilgrims who have suddenly seen a light in the spot where the Cross stands.

The Queen of Peace has taught us to pray for peace before the Cross: “When you pray for peace, go before the Cross, gaze at the Cross”. The Blessed Virgin says: “Pray before the Eucharist, adore the Eucharist” and also: “adore before the Cross, pray before the Cross”.

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”.

To gaze at the Cross of Christ means to learn to love our enemies.

He who does not succeed in forgiving is unable to pray.

(Fr. Jozo Zovko, ofm)

THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

The Cross is the greatest sign of love, it means giving one’s life for others. Jesus, Himself said so: “There is no greater love than to give up our life” (Jn 15,13). Behold the greatest act of love .. Nothing greater than this exists.

To give up one’s life, to offer one’s life for sinners. We are all sinners.

Jesus says: “He who wants to be My disciple must take up his cross every day and follow Me” (Mk 8,34). In our Christian life the Cross is the sign by which we show, each day, if we do belong to Christ.

Our Nobel Prize winner for literature has written a book entitled: “Signs on the way”. It tells the story of a boy that finds himself on the outskirts of a wood and he becomes very curious. He feels the need to enter into that place to discover its beauty, but at the last minute he withdraws because he is afraid and he thinks to himself: How can I return if I get lost? In the end he has an idea: I will leave a sign on the trees and by following them I will find my way back.

This is what he did. As he went further into the deep wood he carved a cross on the younger trees.

As the trees grew so the sign of the cross carved on the bark also became bigger.

Once he had satisfied his curiosity, he decided to return home. He then felt very safe: I know the way well, I will follow my signs.

Each one of us must carry his own cross every day, we must accept it. If we do not do so, we run the risk of losing our way. Our “sign” is Jesus on the Cross!

This is our way: Jesus!

This is our “sign”: To give up our lives for our brothers and sisters!

TO ACCEPT THE CROSS

Dear brothers and sisters, each one of us has his own cross but many are those who do not accept it, still too many indeed!

Many pray to get rid of their own cross.

They go before God in prayer to explain their own situation, to make Him understand that it is neither right nor reasonable what is happening to them.

They expect to persuade God to change His plan and they oppose their will to God’s will.

Our Lady never incited Her Son to refuse His Cross. She did not say to Him: “Let us leave here as they want to harm You, flee elsewhere, be careful for they will kill You.. No! Our Lady did not say this because She wanted to do God’s will and She accepted it together with Her Son.

I am sure that She said to Him: “Take courage, my Son! I am with You. You must sacrifice Yourself. Look all are awaiting Your sacrifice.., Grace and salvation will come through You!

One day Jesus spoke to His disciples about what would happen to Him, and that He was going to suffer a violent death. Then, Peter took Him aside and said to Him: “Lord, banish these thoughts from Your mind..do not speak like that. You must not die. These things must not happen!”.

What did Christ answer?

Christ performed an exorcism: “Get behind me, Satan!”. He drove satan away forcefully, He drove away those thoughts from His disciple’s heart because they were not in accordance with God’s plan. Christ performed an exorcism on His disciple, His Apostle, our first Pope. (see

Mk 8, 31-33).

On Mount Tabor, Peter is tempted once again by satan, and he tempts Jesus: “Master, this is a nice place.. let us build three booths and remain here permanently.in this safe and peaceful place” (see Mt 17,4).

Peter had not understood where the “vision”, shown to him by the Lord, was going to lead him: he would travel the world bearing witness until his life would be sacrificed on the cross. Instead, at that moment, all he wanted was to stop in a quiet and hospitable place.

Just think how, very often, we are also tempted to accept thoughts and discussions so to live without the Cross. Christian life is knowledge of the Cross, our wise attitude is living the Cross. Therefore, our St. Francis wept, saying: “Love in not love” .love is that which sacrifices itself on the Cross.

(Taken from Behold your Mother by Fr. Jozo Zovko ofm – Medjugorje)

From Fr John Main OSB, “Letter Ten, December 18, 1979,” LETTERS FROM THE HEART (New York: Crossroad, 1988), pp. 119-20.

Christmas is a feast that can open the hearts of all of us to the presence of Christ. It puts before us the great qualities of innocence and hope that we need if we are to awaken to his light, and it fills us with confidence because it tells us that the old age has ended. The new age, indeed the new creation, has begun and our point of departure for finding it everywhere is finding it a reality in our heart.

Our journey is, then, one to our own hearts. Because all of us are invited to enter this temple and receive this newness of life, we have to recognize this time as a moment to put off everything that prevents us from embracing the mystery of our own creation and entering into the fullness of life we receive as pure gift in the father’s eternal act of creation.

The importance of the teaching of the Incarnation is that the mystery of God in his eternal creativity is not only brought closer to us but really united to us. We no longer need to objectify the mystery that has taken up his dwelling in our hearts of flesh. We now know that our awakening to his reality is an imminent possibility for each of us because the awakening is an incarnate encounter. The joyfulness to which this feast should recall us is that this awakening is not the result of our own power. We are no longer isolated in a dependency on our own inadequate resources. It is not our own power of wisdom that leads us but his love that is present as the light of the supreme reality in our hearts. The humility of the child Jesus is our guide and teacher. In his Light we have Light. In his Love we have Love. In his Truth we are made Truthful.

It is a feast full of wonder and full of hope for all of us, whoever or wherever we are. It is a new dawn for all humankind, one that begins with a faint but certain glow whose strengthening light steady transforms the sky and earth and grows in brilliance until perfect day.

After Meditation, from Julian of Norwich, DAILY READINGS (chapters 83,84), arr. by Sheila Upjohn (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse, 1992), pp. 188-89.

So I saw and understood that our faith is light in darkness, and this light is God our endless day. This light is love, and it is measured in the right amount to profit us, by God’s wisdom. For the light is not so bright that we can see our blessed day, nor is it shut off from us. . . .

And so love keeps us in faith and hope.

And hope leads us in love.

And, at the end, all shall be love.